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Rabbinic Interns

Rabbinic Interns

Under Rabbi Schlosberg's leadership, the GRJC is proud to welcome rabbinic interns to our community each year.  We are delighted that this creates a strong connection between the GRJC and the Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS), a preeminent institution of higher Jewish learning in New York City where our interns study.  Our rabbinic internship program also creates a win-win relationship: the GRJC benefits from the fresh perspectives offered by our interns and the intern benefits by learning in a synagogue atmosphere under the mentorship of an experienced rabbinic leader.
 
In the past, our interns have led services and programs such as our Mishpacha Minyan, Torah on Tap, Tot Shabbat, teen/youth programs and Shabbat services.  Interns also have the opportunity to shadow the rabbi during lifecyle events such as b'nei mitzvah, baby namings and funerals/shiva minyanim and gain skills around communication, publicity, chaplaincy and community organizing.
 
Thank you to the Lapkin Foundation and JTS's Resnick internship program, sponsors of this program.  We are proud of our rabbinic interns and know that they will continue to do great things for the Jewish people in the future.
 
Alex Friedman
GRJC's 2023-2025 Rabbinic Intern
 
Alex Friedman (he/him) is a Rabbinical student at the Jewish Theological Seminary in his fourth year of study. A native  Texan, Alex grew up in the Conservative movement, leading his shul's USY chapter as its president.  
 
Alex holds a BA in Politics and Near Eastern and Judaic Studies from Brandeis University and is currently pursuing an MA in Jewish Education from JTS' William Davidson School. He has worked as rabbinic intern at his childhood synagogue in Austin, High Holiday Hazzan at Congregation Ahavas Chesed in Mobile, Alabama, and just finished a year of working with the Nativ Pre-college Leadership Program students as their rabbinic intern.
 
Alex enjoys cooking, podcasts, Jewish music and niggunim, and collecting owl tchotchkes.
 
Stefanie Gedan
GRJC's 2021-2023 Rabbinic Intern
 
 
Stefanie Gedan is a fifth-year rabbinical student at the Jewish Theological Seminary.  She is pursuing an MA in Hebrew Letters and a certificate in Pastoral Care.  Originally from Minneapolis, Stefanie is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison where she earned a BA in Jewish Studies with an emphasis in modern Hebrew.  Prior to entering rabbinical school, Stefanie studied for a year at Yeshivat Hadar, an egalitarian yeshiva on the Upper West Side of New York.
 
In 2020, Stefanie commissioned in the United States Navy and serves as a Chaplain Candidate Program Officer.  Previously she was the student rabbi at the Fitzgerald Hebrew Congregation in southern Georgia and the rabbinic intern at the Adath Jeshurun Congregation in Minneapolis.
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Shani Abramowitz
GRJC's 2019-2021 Rabbinic Intern
 
Shani is a fifth-year rabbinical student at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in New York City, where she is also pursuing a Master's degree in Bible.  Originally from the Chicago suburbs, Shani is a former J Street organizer and spent the last year working at the New Israel Fund as the Elissa Froman Social Justice Fellow and Rabbinic Intern.  Shani attended Brandeis University, where she studied English Literature and Psychology.  After college, Shani spent a year studying at Yeshivat Hadar, an egalitarian yeshiva on the Upper West Side of New York.  Shani loves all things reading and knitting, and is currently working on an original collection of poetry inspired by the Mishnah.
 
 
 
 
Sam Hollander
GRJC's 2018-2019 Rabbinic Intern
 
Rabbi Sam Hollander joined Temple Sinai in Dresher, PA in July 2019. He was ordained at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York City in May 2019, where he also received a Masters in Jewish Education from the William Davidson School of Education. During his studies at JTS, Rabbi Hollander served as rabbinic intern at the Glen Rock Jewish Center (Glen Rock, NJ), Congregation Beth El (South Orange, NJ), and Temple Sholom (Greenwich, CT). For two years, he worked as the youth and family program director at Ansche Chesed (New York City). Additionally, Rabbi Hollander was a hospital chaplain intern at New York-Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center.
 
Originally from Cherry Hill, NJ, he graduated magna cum laude from Rutgers University, majoring in Psychology and Jewish Studies.  Before beginning his rabbinic studies at the JTS, Rabbi Hollander studied for a year in Jerusalem at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies.

Passionate about immersive Jewish experiences, Rabbi Hollander has worked for both Camp Ramah in the Poconos and Ramah Israel Seminar. He has completed a Master’s Concentration in Israel Education with the iCenter and was an AIPAC Leffell Israel Fellow.
Mon, October 2 2023 17 Tishrei 5784